


Just a little wicked

by Mercyisnotasignofweakness



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Affairs, Alternative Universe/ AU, Assassination Attempt(s), Assassination Plot(s), Battle-damage/taking care, Briefly mentioned attempted suicide, Embrace, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Getting Together, Implied Sticky Sexual Interfacing, M/M, MegaStar Week 2021, Royal Starscream, Secret affairs, Superiority, dispute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:54:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29026059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercyisnotasignofweakness/pseuds/Mercyisnotasignofweakness
Summary: Starscream had the perfect plan, a perfect scheme. He was going to take Megatron down and claim the Decepticon throne for himself. All he had to do was make the big idiot fall in love with him. Easy.He just hadn't expected to fall for his own con.
Relationships: Background Skywarp/Starscream/Thundercracker (Transformers), Implied past Jetfire | Skyfire/Starscream (Transformers), Megatron/Starscream (Transformers)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 54
Collections: MegaStar Week 2021 Collection





	Just a little wicked

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Megastar week! :D
> 
> This fic is based on an alternative universe where Megatron doesn't become an abusive asshole and Starscream actually has character development. They're still fucked up people because that's what their characters are like, but I wanted to point out that there is no previous history of systematic abuse between them. I will also say as a disclaimer that I don't support abusive relationships, murder or dictatorship. Any views found in this fic are solely that of the characters and not the author.
> 
> A minor warning: There's a slight mention of attempted suicide by a side character. The attempt is stopped and no one dies. It's not a main focus of the fic but it is present, so I wanted to warn you in case it is triggering. Stay safe! (:
> 
> Prompts used from the Megastar week prompt list:  
> Day 1: First Kiss  
> Day 2: Battle-damage/Taking care  
> Day 3: Dispute  
> Day 5: Embrace  
> Day 7: Superiority
> 
> This will be the only fic I contribute with so that's why I used as many as possible (: I plan on joining many more exchanges and pairing weeks as they arrive throughout the next year, so until next time!
> 
> I hope you enjoy the fic (: 
> 
> PS. See end notes for my thoughts and ideas behind this fic if you're interested.

He _had_ been scheming again. Starscream will admit that much. Trickery, plots, manipulation, _deception_ . He had been born into royalty. Politics is just another form of war. Being traitorous is in his very lifeblood. So of course he had been scheming. It’s his _thing_.

He had been getting sloppier though, even Skywarp had commented on that. But really, what’s the point of plotting a perfect coup if no one is _aware_ of it?

Megatron is loud and brutish and _yes,_ also unfairly charismatic. Mecha had rushed to him in those first centuries of the revolution because he had shined as bright as a supernova. His voice carried a strength and a promise that even managed to convince the spark-broken young Starscream to join his hopeless cause.

But Megatron is _not_ a good leader and after an eternity standing by his side as his Second, Starscream feels safe in his final conclusion that Megatron never will be.

Starscream grew up amongst the best of the best. The Winglord’s little darling, his clever prince with perfect manners, the highest level of education he could get, spotless military service record and an eternally flawless paint job. Starscream excelled in _everything_ in his youth because why wouldn’t he? Science, politics, combat training, social engagements, _war_ . It was all so _easy_ and Starscream loved pleasing his creators. He liked being better than everyone else.

He had tried being loyal to Megatron at first. He had been sure that it was a lack of proper education and upbringing that made Megatron so… Tarnish. He had guided him and taken over responsibilities that the big lump of a warlord didn’t even seem to consider or realize existed. It was pretty obvious to someone who’d spent his whole life being trained to rule that Megatron had absolutely no idea how to lead people.

Halfway into the first half a million years of war Starscream had realized that even though he didn’t hold the title, he was basically the leader of the Decepticons. He took care of all the duties that should have been Megatron’s to deal with and those he simply couldn’t find the time to handle had been picked up by Soundwave without a single word spoken between them. They ran the faction in flawless cooperation. Megatron at that point was no more than a figurehead. A pretty hood ornament they slapped at the front of the war parties so the Autobots and the Prime were too busy gawking at him to really realize what was going on behind the enemy lines. It was hilariously tragic to see the once great revolutionary be so… useless. Not that Megatron ever realized any of this himself.

So, one day Starscream simply decided to change the status quo.

Why should he do all the hard work with little recognition? Why should Megatron continue to bring their faction into one mindless battle after another, conquering planets that _didn’t matter_ to their Cause, just because he was too stubborn to let Prime have even the tiniest of victories? The war was no longer for the good of their people, but rather for the good of _one_ person. It simply couldn’t continue.

Beating the Prime will not bring their dead home planet back to life. It will not secure safety and freedom for their people. It won’t put energon in their tanks or safeguard their sparks against the many dangerous alien species among the stars, those Starscream know are watching their civil war with hungry optics, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and claim the dead husk of a planet for themselves.

So, he started scheming. He attempted to rid the universe of Megatron. He’ll admit the first dozen attempts were not meant to succeed as much as they were meant to gather data. He was careful, never overdoing it and always leaving an impression that he was more messing with the warlord than actually being fully committed to ending his existence. It cost him many privileges, made Megatron overly suspicious of him and anything he said and sometimes it even meant time in the brig, but Megatron always welcomed him back into the fold when the army started to fall apart. Starscream is irreplaceable in his position and he used that to his advantage. Every failed attempt gave him knowledge that led to more precise, foolproof plans and each of those led to more data. And so the pattern repeated, a continuous circle of assassination attempts that his spark was never fully in.

Until the day he was suddenly staring at the perfect scheme. The perfect plan. A series of particular, precisely calculated strikes and manipulations meant to wear down the giant warframe while simultaneously gaining the army’s favor and respect.

He would destroy Megatron’s reputation. He would present himself as the hero, the rightful leader who had protected the faction all these years while Megatron slowly descended into rage induced madness over constantly failing at doing the one thing he always promised to do: Kill the Prime and take the Matrix for himself. When Starscream would finally, subtly reveal to Megatron his brilliant plan and the warlord lashed out in a murderous attempt to kill the threat to his power, Starscream would detonate the micro explosives he had wired into Megatron’s spark chamber during an earlier phase of the plan that involved faked intimacy and affection. He’d make it look like they were fighting at first of course, put on a show and reveal more of the skills he’d been hiding all these years: Starscream is a frightening good and efficient close combat fighter. He wouldn’t be able to beat Megatron in fair combat, but he would be able to hold his ground for a significant amount of time. Then once the detonation happened and Megatron went down, Starscream would have that one nano-second opening to punch his servo through the warlord’s chest and crush the spark within, destroying any evidence of the tampering before anyone discovered it.

Just like that Starscream would be the rightful leader of the Decepticon army, the position and title won through rite of combat. No one would dare challenge him or his orders again.

It was the perfect plan. Fool proof and elegant in its quiet complexity.

As it turns out, Starscream is worse than a fool. He’s an _idiot_ . Everything had been going exactly right and then he had to go frag it all up with _sentiment_.

No, no this wasn’t his fault; this was _Megatron’s_ fault. Starscream had miscalculated quite a few aspects of his personality. How was he supposed to know that Megatron behind closed doors and in the throes of passion was actually _sweet_ and _considerate_ ?! That he was quiet and as endearingly articulate in private as he was when giving speeches to the army? That he was _smart?!_ Not a kind of smart like Starscream, but it’s a rare mecha who is. No, Megatron’s cleverness was more natural, more physical. But how was Starscream supposed to know that when his brutish, scrap-brained gladiator turned warlord persona was all he saw? How was he supposed to know that was all an _act_?

“The army is constructed of the lower castes, my dear Starscream,” he had muttered warmly against the back of Starscream’s neck when the Seeker had one night found the courage to ask why Megatron was so _different_ during their secret meetings. “Our soldiers are hotheaded and angry, still hurting from the atrocities they were put through by the Functionists. They joined me for a chance of a better future, yes, but in reality they want _revenge_ . What do you think will happen if I give them what they thirst for and the war ends abruptly? Do you remember what happened when I brought down the corrupt council and murdered its senators? When I claimed Cybertron for our Cause as I had promised? _Chaos._ Our ranks went into disarray, infighting and casualties rose uncontrollably even as the last of the Autobots fled to the stars. Our warriors will feel unfulfilled even if the Prime dies and the Autobots are crushed and we will be no closer to restoring our home. No, I’m biding my time and directing their ire towards Prime to give Shockwave time to find a way to revive Cybertron without the Allspark. I’m making sure as many of our Decepticons will remain active so once we have the solution they can be saved. Without purpose they will burn out and I will not allow a single spark to be lost to hopelessness again. Never again.”

"Millennia of war, countless planets crushed or glassed, and it's all an act?" Starscream had asked sharply, trying to hide how he was feeling his spark sink at the new sudden and terrifying insight into his lord. "Surely you're joking?"

Megatron had chuckled and then _nuzzled_ his helm against Starscream’s affectionately. “Not all of it,” he admitted. “I am an angry mech. I don’t forgive easily and sometimes I do lose control of the habits forced onto me in the Pits. I do despise Prime for his betrayal. The rest are mere shadows of myself that I’ve pulled into the light for our army’s benefit. They don’t need a well-spoken revolutionary anymore. That time has passed. What they need is a furious lord willing to tear worlds apart to give them the revenge they crave. We gather strength with every planet we take and we wear down the Autobots, but is it necessary for the revival of Cybertron? No. I _am_ playing a role. I’m giving them the leader I believe they need in order to survive. Our people must survive.”

 _Our. Ours._ He had kept saying that. Our people. Our Cause. Starscream had felt panic press against his spark with every word leaving Megatron, a terrifying new feeling taking root in his spark.

He’d still continued his plan, even though he knew he had been compromised.

And now here he is. Caught in a trap of his own making, acting out one last desperate plan to force the change he knows is necessary.

Starscream stares at the servo that holds the blade. It has slipped between the more fragile plates of Megatron’s armor and sunk into the soft, unprotected protoform on his side, deep into his inner mechanics. A weakness that Starscream only knows of because of the intimacy they’ve shared in the past and his meticulous planning. He has left trails of oral lubricant down the very armor that now spills his lord’s lifeblood. Warm, slick energon dribbles down Starscream’s digits, making it hard to keep hold of the hilt of his blade.

Megatron glares down at him, his optics bright with fury and betrayal. It makes Starscream tremble for reasons he can’t fathom, but he meets the warlord’s gaze bravely, expression forced into stubborn determination. He has made his move and thrown his plans into the wind currents. He’ll face the consequences and accept his deactivation with all the dignity a royal of his stature has.

His wings flutter at the thought, dipping just a fraction before Starscream can grab control of them again. Any hope of Megatron not noticing is squashed when the warlord’s optics snap to them immediately, his frown deepening. Starscream rises his wings high in defiance in response and refuses to show how truly terrified he is. The Nemesis bridge is deadly quiet, the entire Beta shift frozen in shock, staring at their leaders’ stand-off.

Starscream can feel Thundercracker and Skywarp panicking through the narrowed trinebond, already trying to find ways to get Starscream off the Nemesis to save his life. They’re on their way, running down the hallways towards the bridge, but Starscream snaps a feeling of _attention!_ at them, urging them to stay away. They don’t need to go down with him for his stupidity.

He curses himself. He should have _stuck to his perfect plan_.

“Out,” Megatron tells the mecha around them with quiet fury. When no one dares move a single mechanism, his helm snaps up, his rage suddenly exploding into the room like a forcefield of emotion, something almost _physical_ that pushes against all Starscream’s surface sensors. He flinches and shivers, unable to stop himself. His grip on the blade slips, twisting it just a little. It’s already buried to the hilt and can’t go any further. Megatron doesn’t react to the pain.

“OUT!” Megatron shouts at the Beta shift workers.

The mecha vanish in a mad rush of wheels and wings, fleeing the bridge like they fear for their own sparks too. Starscream’s spark warms a little at all the pitying looks thrown his way. It’s nice knowing they at least care enough to feel pity for him.

Soundwave is the last one left when he hesitates at the door. He turns back to the Starscream-Megatron statue that hasn’t moved a millimeter since Starscream struck and the blade found its way into Megatron’s side.

The spymaster tilts his helm slightly in quiet inquiry. With the dark visor it’s impossible to know who he’s looking at, but from the quiet anger still soaking the air with electricity, Starscream assumes Soundwave is communicating with Megatron telepathically and that whatever he’s saying is pissing their lord off even more.

“Leave us,” Megatron growls at his Third.

Soundwave hesitates for another moment, then takes a step back, removing himself from the room without breaking optic contact with them. Just as the sound of heavy, running pedes can be heard in the hallway outside the bridge, Soundwave lets the doors slam shut, trapping Starscream in here with his furious lord.

A moment later Starscream’s trinemates start pounding their servos against the door. He hears Skywarp furious shrieks and feels his rage through the narrowed bond when Soundwave undoubtedly does something that deactivates his warp-drive. Starscream pushes apologies and goodbyes at them before he snaps their connection fully shut, not willing to let them suffer while he deactivates. They’ll have enough pain from the broken bond to deal with after.

Alone and still staring at Megatron’s face, Starscream prepares for his end. He straightens his back and tightens the hold on the blade, tanks rolling unpleasantly at the wet squish of energon squeezing out between his digits.

He doesn’t expect the kiss.

Even during the stage of his plan that involved getting himself into Megatron’s berth and lowering his defenses so Starscream could get to his spark while he recharged, they never kissed. He had insisted on the rule when they started interfacing and Megatron had just accepted it without question. It was affairs 101: Don’t get attached because it gives you a weakness. Kissing was a sure way to fall victim to _emotions_.

The second Megatron’s hot lips slip between his own, Starscream knows that kissing would have changed absolutely nothing for him.

His spark surges wildly at the soft little press of lips, shock, fear, confusion, and horrible joy mashing together inside him. He’s frozen, doesn’t dare move even when Megatron lovingly cradles one side of his face with a giant servo and tilts his helm back to deepen the kiss. It’s soft and careful and _genuine_ and Starscream feels himself tremble in terror at how all his carefully laid plans shatter before him. What is _happening?!_

“Fool,” Megatron whispers against his lips, kissing him again before Starscream can so much as shriek in indignation. The next kiss is harder, more certain but Starscream still can’t find the subroutines that’ll unlock his paralyzed frame and let him return it.

On the third kiss pressed carefully against his slack, unresponsive lips, Megatron finally pulls back.

“Why do you always insist on complicating everything?” his lord asks with a softly vented sigh. “Can you not see how powerful we’d be if you worked with me instead of against me?”

Starscream scoffs at the implications hiding in that question, frame finally unlocking.

“And be your _plaything_?” he responds sharply. “A pretty little loyal Seeker on your arm for you to use whenever you see fit? No thank you! I had enough of being a fancy decoration in Vos.”

Megatron sighs tiredly and releases his face, pulling back. He searches Starscream’s face for something but the Seeker just glares back at him, refusing to back down. He’s scared, oh frag yeah he is but that doesn’t mean he won’t face his end with dignity and spite.

Something in Megatron’s expression crumbles suddenly when he apparently doesn’t find what he had been looking for. It stabs at something in Starscream’s spark. A second later its fear piercing it when Megatron slips Starscream’s servo right off the hilt of the blade with no effort at all, the energon making it far too easy to push him off.

Suddenly he is without any advantage. With nothing to control Megatron with, Starscream’s frame sinks towards the floor in fear, optics wide.

“It was yet another one of your _plots_ ,” Megatron tells himself quietly, shaking his helm as he walks away. He doesn’t bother removing the blade from his side even though it has to hurt, but it’s probably for the best. Starscream knows that blade intimately, knows its curve, length, and thickness down to the very last molecule. He forged it for this very purpose and angled it _just so_ when he thrust it into Megatron so the tip would nick that one major fuel line he knows hides behind the thick plating. He hadn’t hacked Hook’s medical files and studied them for hours without reason. Starscream is sure he hit his target.

“Just get it over with,” Starscream snaps at him. He doesn’t want to die but waiting around for Megatron to strike is torture. There’s no way he’ll manage to flee, not with Soundwave outside the door and Megatron right here in front of him, but he’ll be damned if he lets Megatron play around with him first.

No, all he can do is just get it over with. Make it quick.

“This isn’t your MO,” Megatron continues muttering to himself as if Starscream hadn’t said anything. He turns and stares at Starscream, optics narrowed. “You have plotted against me before and though your attempts were sloppy, they were still _elegant_. I knew you were testing me more than actually attempting to deactivate me which is why I didn’t bother giving you more than a few days in the brig. If seducing me was part of a plot, then why this?” He gestures to the blade in his side. Starscream gets stuck staring at the lines of energon that has reached his lord’s knee, soaking into the exposed mechanisms and dripping over shiny, grey plating.

“Seducing me was not necessary for this attempt at my life,” he continues. “It’s so primitive and you must have known it wouldn’t kill me.”

“I nicked your right-side arterial fuel line,” Starscream informs him, somehow finding enough calm to produce a tight smile and force some life into his voice. “I estimate two hours at the current rate of energon loss until you lose consciousness. If I had managed to rip it out like I had planned to, you’d have bled out in seconds. I assume Hook is already on his way?”

Megatron just nods.

“Pity,” Starscream continues, forcing himself to look relaxed by shrugging his shoulders. His blasted wings won’t stop trembling though. He hopes Megatron is still as oblivious to their language as he has always been.

That hope shrinks a little when the warlord spends a few long moments studying them.

“Why?” Megatron asks again, though so much softer this time. “Why do you always fight me? What have I done to wrong you?”

Starscream bares his dentae at the spark of emotion he sees in the other, trying to steel his spark against it. “Wrong _me_ ?!” he snaps. “You ignorant buffoon! No wonder you’re losing this war! You’re _utterly clueless!_ ”

“Then _enlighten me_ , Starscream,” Megatron growls quietly, expression darkening. Starscream smirks a little at the reaction. Good. He likes Megatron angry. He doesn’t want more of that wretched _softness_.

He crosses his arms over his chassis and lifts his helm. The pose is one of his favorites, full of airy superiority and confidence. It’s the one Skywarp always attempts to mimic, but never manages to capture successfully. Only Starscream’s royal past lets him pull it off flawlessly. He has had countless millennia to practice it, after all.

“I didn’t do it for _me_ , you scrapheap!” Starscream tells him. “I did it for _them_!” He points a slim, clawed digit at the row of surveillance screens Soundwave left behind at his station, showing how the hallways outside the bridge is still full of the Beta shift that couldn’t quite manage to walk away without knowing the outcome of Starscream’s latest assassination attempt. Gossip has probably reached as far as the engine rooms already, everyone on comms to share Starscream’s fate with the rest of the army. The other screens show the various barracks and rec-rooms, one in particular which he points to that shows the many dozens of trines enjoying their off-duty time together. His own trine had probably been part of the game he sees being played in the big open space, Seekers using their thrusters to jump up and slap a ball away from a goal hovering under the ceiling. It’s why Starscream made his move now, when he knew they’d be too far away to get here in time.

“You’re so sure of your assessment of the army, but you have no idea what reality our soldiers live in,” Starscream explains, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. He feels the very moment his vocalizer clicks into the pitch that he’s so famous for, his voice taking on that particular shrieking tone that earned him his name in his youth. “You hide up here on the higher levels, feeling _sorry_ for yourself. You never mingle with your people anymore. How could you possibly know that war fatigue has started taking root in our troops? That every day we find more and more hopelessness hiding in our ranks? Just _yesterday_ I pulled one of your precious stunticons off the stern of the ship before he could fling himself into the thrusters!”

And that had truly been the thing that had tipped the scales and forced his servo. He’d been desperate to do _something_ after seeing poor Dead End finally break under the dark thoughts everyone thought was _just_ _his thing_. Everyone, even his own gestalt thought it is just a funny joke he plays. Dead End’s preaching about the end of things again! Ha ha, he’s so gloomy. Good one!

Starscream knows better. He knows the kind of hopelessness that drives a mech to those thoughts, that would drive a fairly newly sparked mech to lose all hope before ever knowing the feeling of it. He also knows Megatron will never understand because he has always been able to find strength to keep fighting and that he will never do what is necessary to save that precious hope his people are losing bit by bit as the war drags on.

If the news of one of his warriors’ near-suicide surprise Megatron, he’s good at hiding it. His glare has turned to a frown though, and Starscream feels a pinprick of hope. Maybe, just _maybe_ , he can get through to him this time.

“And you dare claim to know our troops better than me?” Megatron says. “You spend your days up here too!”

“ _I_ run our army!” Starscream snaps. “I organize all our off-world cells, delegate and spread our troops to keep the territories we win and handle our dwindling energon stores so no one starves! I find new energon deposits, I organize the mining efforts and design the portable refineries that process it! I train our air force and recruit new generals for the grounders so they aren’t without training too and _I deal with all the infighting!_ ” He throws a servo towards the closed door where their Third vanished earlier. “And it’s _Soundwave_ who organizes the shift schedules and protects our fleet from incoming virtual attacks! He does all the recon with just his cassettes and a small team of SpecOps! He’s the one that keeps in contact with Shockwave and organizes all the resources we send to Cybertron for the rebuilding effort. _You_ only ever sit on your throne and brood, only concerned about when you can find an excuse to go fight Prime and which name to add to Tarn’s list so you can teach defectors a lesson! So yes! I dare claim I know our army _a lot better than you do!_ ”

“And the troops _hate_ you!” Megatron argues loudly, stabbing a digit in Starscream’s direction. “What makes you think anything they tell you is the _truth_ ?” He’s clearly upset that realizing Starscream is right and he is useless. He’s lashing out and yeah, the conviction in his voice _hurts_. The truth of the words hurt more than Starscream is willing to admit, digging sharp claws into his spark and squeezing it until it feels like it’s bleeding.

He’s hated, _he_ _knows that_. Not trusted but feared and the butt of more jokes than he’s okay with. He’s ambitious, loud, and arrogant. He’s not easy to be around. Even his trine is tired of his pigheadedness and inability to just leave things as they are. Starscream is a _dreamer_. He thrives in chaos and schemes to better himself and the world around him because that’s the only way he knows how to fight back. He uses his sharp mind and deadly frame to _create_ the change he wants. He’s fiercely protective of what he considers his but it’s a quality he hides deep within himself because _sentiment_ is _weakness_. You can care about your subjects but you cannot _show that_ because there’ll always be those who will abuse your love. Love is not something a leader gets to have.

His sire taught him that very important lesson when he was just a mechling and he has never forgotten it. He might never forgive the old fool for sacrificing Starscream’s carrier for the good of the Vosian people but he knows why he did it. He doesn’t blame his sire for doing what a true Winglord should: Protect the people at all costs.

So yes, he rules with a hard servo and shouts instead of using kind words. He puts himself in the position of a stoic, cold-sparked leader and enforces his rules with a ruthlessness even Megatron can’t match on most days because _it’s what_ _keeps them safe_. Starscream can survive being the villain as long as it means his people are protected and happy.

Which they aren’t under Megatron’s rule. It’s the whole point that brought them to this moment here.

So, he straightens himself with all the pride and confidence he can muster, pushing out his chassis and resting his servos on his hips. His wings arch high above his helm, fanning out in clear challenge.

“That might be,” he says coldly, ignoring the sad squeeze of his spark that gets mirrored through an even sadder shiver of his wings. “They can hate me but I will still fight for their happiness. I don’t need to be loved to do what’s right. That is a not weakness we share, _my lord.”_

Starscream sees the moment it hits Megatron, the moment the realization lights up inside his processor and starts rearranging everything he knows about his Second. He remembers the disoriented chaos a realization like that creates in your inner workings from when it happened to himself. He lets Megatron have time to reorient his processors because it isn’t a pleasant experience.

Starscream would feel angry at himself for revealing his soft, squishy center if it weren’t because he is still sure he won’t leave this room alive. His death will hide the weakness he has shown, the love he has never been able to rid himself of and that’s good enough. He loved his creators with all the naivety of a newspark and he doesn’t blame himself for that but he couldn’t stop himself from loving Skyfire either, couldn’t keep his spark safe when he took a trine just to gain the strength to fight his way to the top of the Decepticon command chain and he failed despite his best efforts to not let Megatron’s secret, affectionate sides win his spark too. He also couldn’t keep himself from caring about all the Decepticons after he inherited the title of Winglord and lost Vos to the Senate’s Autobots. He adopted _grounders_ into his imagined kingdom after bringing what remained of his Seekers into the Decepticon army. He ruled the grounders as if they’d been Seekers too.

He is weak and foolish and unable to fight the basic nature of his spark. Starscream _cares_ and he _hates it_.

“This is a trick too,” Megatron says when he surfaces again. He sounds unsure and Starscream supposes that is natural enough. No one would have suspected Starscream to have a spark that could feel love.

“It might be,” Starscream lies, pose and expression unchanging. “ It might not. Does it matter which it is?”

“Does it matter?!” Megatron repeats with a snap of sudden rising anger. He stomps closer all of a sudden, but Starscream stays where he is, trying to calm his racing spark. This is it and he will not flinch like a coward. He will face death as bravely as his sire did.

“Of course it _matters_!” Megatron shouts at him, pushing his way into Starscream’s space. The pounding on the door starts up again as a tiny tendril of fear leaks through the closed trine bond. Thundercracker shouts Starscream’s name. Starscream doesn’t answer. He just feels the angry puffs of hot air leaving Megatron’s intake on his face while the warlord pants. Is it pain from the blade or is it anger that has him ventilating so fast, Starscream wonders.

“Better get it over with,” Starscream advises the warlord. “Before Skywarp finds a way to bypass whatever Soundwave did to his warp-drive.”

Megatron’s optics flash. “He wouldn’t _dare-_ ” he snarls.

“On the contrary, Skywarp is a sentimental idiot,” Starscream cuts him off. “He’d jump into a pit of scraplets if he thought it’d save me.” And he really would. Skywarp is ten times worse than Starscream when it comes to love.

The declaration makes Megatron pause, pulling back just a bit to get a better look at him.

“They love you,” Megatron says slowly, as if he’s asking instead of stating it. Starscream just shrugs one shoulder.

“Trine is a powerful thing,” he says, narrowing his optics at his lord. “Something you’d know if you had bothered studying the mecha who joined your army. But you still know nothing of Seekers, do you?”

“I know enough,” Megatron growls.

“Ah, so what you mean is that you know how to effectively kill us? Good enough. Please make it swift. My idiotic trine doesn’t deserve this to drag out.”

He spreads his arms, exposing himself to Megatron. His wings sink below his shoulders again, fear surging through him, but there’s nothing Starscream can do to stop that. Instinctual wing language while under distress can’t be fought no matter how well trained you are and he can’t stop himself from being afraid any more than he could stop himself from loving others. All he can do is keep his wings pressed close to his back so they don’t rattle against his plating.

“One question though, if you’d indulge me, my lord,” he hurries to ask when Megatron takes a step back. Does he look surprised at realizing Starscream doesn’t intend to fight for his life or is that just Starscream’s fear making him see things that aren’t there?

“What?” Megatron forces out through clenched dentae.

“Why the kiss?”

It’s bothering him. Oh, Starscream isn’t dumb. He knows his plans to seduce Megatron worked better than he thought. He knows the fool harbors some sort of affectionate feelings for him. What he hadn’t expected was that he’d respond to a clear assassination attempt with a _kiss._ He can’t figure out _why_ and it’s annoying.

“I thought it was rather _obvious_ ,” Megatron responds.

“Not to me, my lord,” Starscream says carefully.

Megatron considers him for a few, long moments, optics dragging over his frame. Starscream tries to keep himself from squirming under the hard gaze, but again his trembling wings draw the warlord’s attention.

“I fell in love with you,” Megatron finally answers, words spoken quietly as if he’s already grieving.

Starscream’s arms lower to his sides and he waits patiently for Megatron to continue. The confirmation hits _something_ inside him, but he’s not sure what it is. 

A burst of rage forcing its way through the trinebond tells him that something has thrown the always calm Thundercracker into a fit outside the locked doors.

“I know,” Starscream says when Megatron doesn’t go on.

“So, it _was_ part of your plan?” Megatron asks sadly. “It was nothing but a way to get close to me?”

“Correct,” Starscream lies. Megatron doesn’t need to know how the last dozen visits that were pointless because he had already accomplished what he wanted weeks prior. That they happened just because Starscream felt like doing it.

“Why didn’t you use my weakness against me then? You had plenty of opportunities to end me. This-“ He gestures to the blade. The streaks of energon have grown to an alarming size. Starscream is impressed that Megatron hasn’t started weakening yet. “-this is primitive, even for you. It’s beneath you. I know you’re better than this. I’ve _seen_ you plan and carry out countless assassinations in my name. Am I not worthy of a proper Starscream plot anymore?”

Where is that blasted medic? Hook should have been here by now. The old fool will bleed out at this rate!

Starscream’s spark shrinks with a different kind of fear.

This can’t be the plan that finally succeeds. It’s so dreadfully _dull_ . Talking him to death? _Ugh._ Starscream’s ascent to the throne should be marked by a grand battle and brilliant, intricate, and elegant plans brought to fruition with skillful, precise strikes! Not happening through some pathetic, slowly draining warlord succumbing to his tiny little wound because he’s too stubborn to just kill his traitorous Second.

“Where’s your medic?” Starscream asks, ignoring the question.

“Outside the door,” Megatron answers. “I asked Soundwave to deny him access. Answer my question.”

“What?!” Starscream exclaims, gesturing to the slowly growing pool of energon under Megatron’s pedes. “Why? Are you so dumb you can’t see you’re bleeding out?”

“Answer the question, Starscream,” he growls.

“Argh! You’re _impossible!_ ” he shouts, spinning around. There’s a hitch in his spark when he realizes he just turned his back to Megatron, but the anger easily overshadows it.

“Of course I had a plan!” he answers, spinning around again to aim a digit at Megatron and close the stupid opening he just gave the other before it can be taken advantage of. “I couldn’t very well crush your spark while you recharged, now could I? The Decepticons would have disowned me for being dishonorable! I have to defeat you in fair combat!”

“But you can’t,” Megatron says and Starscream _hates_ how sure he sounds of the fact.

“No,” he growls angrily. “Because even though you’re infuriatingly, obnoxiously _clueless_ , you are still too strong for me to defeat fairly.” He gestures angrily at Megatron’s chassis. “So I installed micro explosives around your spark. I was going to _cheat_ and cover up the evidence so no one knew, okay? Happy now?”

Megatron lifts a servo to his chassis with lightning speed, hovering it right over his spark with clear shock lighting up his face. “You messed with _my spark_?!” he asks, clearly horrified.

“Yes! You might want to have your medic deal with that too!” Starscream snaps at him, still angry. He flips open the secret compartment in his servo and picks out the little remote from the hollow space in his palm with the tips of his claws. He throws the device at Megatron’s pedes.

“Congratulations, you’ve survived my finest assassination attempt to date,” he sneers at him.

Megatron crouches slowly, pressing a servo against his bleeding side and picks up the little remote. He stands just as slowly, staring at the tiny little thing caught between two digits.

“You had this the entire time?” he asks quietly.

“I’ve had it for _weeks_ ,” Starscream confirms. “I was waiting for the right time. Still had a few final pieces to move into position before I could take you out.”

“What changed then?”

“Dead End,” Starscream says. It’s not _technically_ a lie. Just not the whole truth. “Yesterday. I had to act now. Couldn’t risk losing anyone.” He sniffs at Megatron’s expression and turns his face away. “Yes, you are so concerned about not losing any sparks to hopelessness that you’ve blinded yourself to the fact that you _are_ losing them. We won the war millennia ago and I agree, at the time they weren’t ready for change. But I think now it’s _you_ who aren’t ready for change. Your army is tired and your enemies crushed to be barely worth the ammo we spend on those pointless skirmishes. It’s time to _stop_ , Megatron.”

“And yet you didn’t use this,” Megatron says, lifting the remote. “Most of them would have followed you.”

“Most is _not good enough,_ ” Starscream growls. “It’s all or _nothing_.”

Megatron rolls his optics at him. “Arrogance will be your downfall.”

Starscream snorts. “So I’ve been told,” he responds coolly. “ _Repeatedly_.” 

That seems to give Megatron pause.

“It wasn’t arrogance,” Megatron wonders out loud, another sudden realization brightening his optics. Starscream’s spark sinks again. “It isn’t arrogance, is it?”

Megatron closes the distance between them again. Starscream _hates_ the intelligence he sees in his lord’s red optics. All that mental power aimed at his frame, trying to pry all his secrets from beneath his armor.

“You are not saying all or nothing because you have some desire to be worshipped like everyone thinks.” Megatron tilts his helm, considering him. Several moments tick by in deadly silence. Starscream just glares at his lord, refusing to help him come to the conclusion he’s skirting around.

Megatron’s optics widen with understanding. “You _care_ about them,” he says.

Starscream’s expression pulls together in a grimace and he turns away so he can’t see Megatron’s stupid face. Sharp claws grab his chin and force him back though, forcing him to meet the warlord’s gaze. Megatron won’t let him hide.

“Then we are back at the same question again,” Megatron says, lifting the remote. “Why not use this?”

Starscream tries to pull away but can’t. He bares his fangs at Megatron instead. “Why does it matter?” he asks again, pushing at the big oaf’s chassis. “I tried to kill you and failed! End of story! Now _kill me_ or _let me go_!”

“It _matters_ because _I love you!_ ” Megatron snaps at him. “I don’t _want_ to kill you!”

“Well if that was true then you’d know exactly why I failed too!” The words fly out of him before he realizes what he has done. Starscream slaps a servo over his mouth but by then it’s already too late. The truth brightens Megatron’s optics yet again when he is finally told of the terrible, awful love that Starscream has tried to hide since he discovered it.

Megatron smashes their lips together again before he can do any kind damage control. This time though, Starscream throws caution to the wind. He’s dead anyway, so why _shouldn’t_ he take this chance to indulge his weak little spark?

He leans forward and dives in to dominate the kiss with furious determination, his fangs biting into the soft protometal of Megatron’s lips and drawing more energon. Megatron just grunts at the sting and presses closer, leaning over Starscream to deepen the kiss. It’s _good,_ and it’s _awful_. Starscream moans into it and sucks at the glossa searching his lips for entrance, so drunk on the taste and scent of Megatron taking up his entire focus that he doesn’t notice when Megatron’s frame wins the fight against his stubbornness.

They hit the ground in a loud crash when Starscream is suddenly forced to carry Megatron’s entire weight on his slight frame. Shouts of distress from outside the bridge rise in response to the crash but Starscream is too occupied with how Megatron’s optics flicker and darken to worry about his panicked trine thinking he has finally been killed.

“Hook!” Starscream shouts, spark throbbing wild in fear. The doors open immediately and the heavy medic rushes to them, followed closely by Starscream’s trine and Soundwave.

“The idiot collapsed on me!” Starscream tells Hook who’s already ripping Megatron’s unresponsive frame around and scanning the wound in his side.

“He dislodged the blade by accident when he crouched,” Hook says, servos already moving fast to wrap the blade in thick mesh to stop the bleeding. Starscream is too busy panicking to ask how Hook knew that Megatron had crouched at all. “Bleed happened too fast. Fraggin’ _glitch_.”

He rips open the seal on a bag of tubing with his dentae and stabs a needle far too big for Starscream’s liking straight into a thick fuel line in Megatron’s neck. After connecting the tube to a bag of energon, Hook throws it at Starscream.

“Squeeze it,” he snaps.

Starscream has to wave Skywarp and Thundercracker off him to get the bag into his servos properly, but once he manages it the tube quickly fills with purple liquid.

“Release me, you bitbrains!” Starscream snaps at his trine when they start to move closer again. “Can’t you see I’m _fine?_ ”

“Excuse us for _worrying!”_ Thundercracker snaps back at him. Skywarp just whines, optics flicking between Starscream and Megatron like he’s worried for them both.

“Shut it!” Hook snaps at them. “Help me get him to the med bay.”

* * *

In the end, Megatron doesn’t even get close to deactivating. It was all rather dramatic for something that wasn’t even that serious. Hook’s too good at his job even if he is an uneducated crack and it takes barely twelve hours before the warlord comes out of stasis to find his Second seated at his medberth side.

Starscream only glances at him when he twists on the berth, groaning in pain. He lowers the data pad he’s been pretending to read for the past hour and crosses his arms casually over his lap while he waits for Megatron to heave himself up.

Megatron pants and presses a servo against the newly welded wound on his side, glaring at the tubes running into his arms. The bags of energon are nearly empty anyway, so Starscream stands and puts away his data pad to remove them. He’s careful when he pulls the needles from Megatron’s lines, pressing on the puncture wounds until the self-repair closes the little opening a few seconds later.

Once Megatron is free, Starscream turns to the worktable left nearby and grabs the dreadful concoction Hook left behind there.

“Drink,” he orders Megatron, pushing the cube into his servo. “It’s low grade and full of supplements, so fair warning. It’ll taste like slag.”

Megatron downs it without even making a face. Starscream makes plenty for the both of them in sympathy, so it all evens out in the end.

“You’re not in the brig,” is the first thing Megatron says when the cube is empty and discarded.

“Turns out our army is full of cowards,” Starscream says. “No one dared attempt it. If you extinguished they didn’t want to be the mecha who had sent their new Commander to the brig.”

Megatron lifts an optical ridge. “Soundwave?” he asks.

“Says that you’re an idiot,” Starscream delivers the Third’s message with a little smirk. He doesn’t bother telling Megatron that Soundwave had told Starscream the exact same thing.

Megatron huffs a weak little laugh and shakes his helm. He leans back against the wall behind him and shutters his optics.

“What am I going to do with you?” he muses quietly after a long, quiet pause.

“Well, taking me seriously for once would be an excellent start,” Starscream answers. He rolls his optics at the look Megatron sends him. “Oh don’t give me that look. You know I’m right!”

“Sometimes,” Megatron relents. He quietly considers Starscream for another moment before continuing. “So, if it were up to you, you’d end the war now and return to Cybertron? You believe they are ready?”

“I believe we were ready centuries ago,” he says honestly.

He considers Megatron’s mood and weighs his options. He could easily drop the topic, pick up his data pad and leave now. Let everything get back to normal and try something else later. But… Something tells him that he won’t get another chance to get through to Megatron like this in a long time. He might never get it. If Starscream leaves now, any of the intimacy they’ve shared, the same one that has allowed him to get away with what he did and still stand here, will be gone.

Somehow, that loss seems too high a price to pay.

“Why are we still fighting, Megatron?” he asks with a quiet seriousness he’s not sure Megatron has ever heard from him before. “Tell me, what possible purpose does keeping Prime around serve? Rid the universe of him and let’s _go home._ Let’s rebuild for real. Our empire is large enough to supply us with energon for now. Once the demand grows larger we’ll either have found out how to reignite the core or have conquered other planets to harvest. Earth itself will give us a fine advantage once we eradicate the pests.”

“No,” Megatron says softly, shaking his helm.

“No?!” Starscream repeats shrilly, taken aback by the unexpected response. “What do you mean, _‘no’_?!”

“We cannot kill the Prime,” he explains. “There’s an easier solution for Cybertron. One I’ve considered for a while but never found satisfying enough to risk attempting.”

“Oh yes? And which could that possibly be?” Starscream asks, full of skepticism.

Megatron runs through a series of deep, heavy vents before he answers quietly.

“Peace.”

“ _Peace_?!” Starscream spits in disgusted disbelief. “You’d surrender to them?! We can crush them beneath our pedes! Why would you let that slimy little traitor win?!”

“Not win, Starscream,” Megatron corrects him. “A cooperative peace. Neither victory nor defeat. We might be able to crush them, but Prime is no easy opponent. Desperation gives strength. It’s not only because I’m pulling my punches on the battlefield that he still lives. How many centuries do you think it would take for a true victory? No, peace is a faster option.”

“That still doesn’t explain why we should bother,” Starscream points out. “Why _you’d_ bother even considering it! You hate him!”

“I do,” Megatron agrees easily. “I will never forgive him for his betrayal. But… perhaps our troops are not the only ones who've fallen victim to war fatigue. I’ve not wanted to admit it but peace has found its way to my mind a few times over the last few centuries. I’d kill Prime and be done with it gladly, but he knows how to locate the Allspark. It’s the surest way to save our home in a time frame that would mean no other spark is lost.”

Starscream will admit that it _does_ make sense. In a complicated, dumb Megatron way, of course.

“And you think he’ll just hand it over and demand nothing in return?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chassis.

“No, I’m quite sure he’ll want many things in return,” Megatron says. “Some I’m willing to consider giving him to give our people the best chance. Others I will never consider.”

Starscream stares at him with suspicious disbelief. This is way too sudden. It almost sounds like Megatron has _considered it_ before. Has spent hours and hours weighing the pros and cons. If that’s true, then how has Starscream never managed to pick up on it?

“Yesterday you were plotting another pointless skirmish to steal energon from the humans and you were willing to let this war drag on for another eternity,” Starscream says. “What changed all of a sudden?”

“My Second made a few good points.” Megatron looks at him calmly. “ Truths I needed to hear despite not wanting to. I’ve been processing it for the past couple of hours.”

“What?! You’ve been awake all this time?” Starscream exclaims, arms unfolding again in his surprise. He gestures to the berth Megatron is sitting on.

Megatron’s lips split in a smile. “I must say your unwavering loyalty is truly touching, my traitorous little Starscream. Who would have thought you’d be sitting by my medberth for hours and hours waiting for me to awaken when _you_ were the one that put me here?”

Starscream flinches. Megatron’s smile falls.

In a rush to escape the look in his optics, Starscream snatches up his data pad to hide his moment of weakness, growling at his leader. “Unthankful dirtkisser,” he snaps at him.

He means to storm off, but Megatron grabs his elbow in a soft grip to stop him. For some unfathomable reason, Starscream lets him.

“Tell me,” his lord asks him softly.

Starscream makes a face at him. “Tell you _what_?”

“The truth,” Megatron elaborates. “Were you lying earlier when you implied that you…?” Starscream’s ruffled feathers calms a little. He doesn’t try to break Megatron’s hold on him.

He had expected and dreaded when the question would surface again once Megatron did. Starscream had gone back and forth on what to answer him when finally faced with it. Twelve hours of sitting by an unconscious warframe leaves plenty of time for contemplation. The final conclusion he had reached was to lie, to hide his weakness because that’s what he had been taught to do. A Winglord doesn’t get to love.

But Megatron looks at him with such open vulnerability and fragile hope that Starscream hesitates before blurting out the answer he has practiced. Megatron already knows too much and now Starscream is aware that the rest of the Nemesis crew also does. Soundwave - the _traitor_ \- had broadcast their entire conversation across the ship to prevent people from storming in and interrupting them. It had started as an attempt at discrediting Starscream in case Megatron did end up dying and Starscream took the throne. It had ended up backfiring when _everyone_ saw how his soft little spark beats so loyally for his people.

He’s still not sure how to handle the sudden change in the crew’s attitude towards him. His Seekers’ genuine bows of respect are still freaking him out.

He also still owes Soundwave some kind of punishment for ruining his hard-earned reputation like that.

“What do you think?” Starscream asks Megatron instead of crushing his spark, drawing himself back behind his mask of neutrality.

“I think…” Megatron vents a sigh. “I think you are an excellent actor and a brilliant strategist. You’re a born survivor and you’ve proven again and again you can beat the odds because you’re clever enough to think yourself out of any situation.”

“So?” the Seeker prompts him, spark floating into his intake joyfully at all the praise. If Starscream’s wings hitch higher and fan out in happiness, then that’s fine. It’s not like Megatron can read them anyway.

“So, Starscream,” Megatron says tiredly. “I have no idea if I can trust your word or not. No idea if I read too much into what you said or if it was all an attempt to save your own spark. I’m not even sure I’ll believe you if you do say you love me.”

His wings suddenly sink lower again. “Why?” Starscream can’t help but ask.

“You tried to kill me,” Megatron answers flatly.

“So? I try to kill Skywarp once a week,” Starscream says with a huff, waving a servo at his lord. “He loves it.”

“Skywarp loves _you_ ,” Megatron points out, like that makes a difference.

Starscream glances at him from the corner of an optic. “So do you,” he counters.

Megatron’s expression softens even more and for once Starscream doesn’t feel the need to instantly flee his optics when they search him. “I do,” he says sadly. For some reason, Starscream thinks Megatron should have been happy about that, not sad.

Strange.

They quietly observe each other for a bit, neither knowing what to say after that. Starscream debates with himself again, thousands of reasons filling into different slots of pros and cons. Countless plans get pulled from his databanks, but none of them tell him how to deal with this outcome. None of them ever considered what would happen if _Starscream_ ended up falling for his own con.

Eventually, he sighs at the result his processing leaves him with and he turns to Megatron, spark heavy with his decision.

The wiring and micro explosives Hook removed from Megatron’s spark have been expertly disarmed and packed in a little blast safe container. All rather unnecessary, considering Soundwave already took and destroyed the remote that would detonate them. The box was left with Starscream at his request, a reminder of his failure so he’d be better next time.

Now, he offers the little see-through box of junk to Megatron in quiet answer to his question.

The warlord takes it slowly, giving it a strange look of distrust. “What’s this?” he predictably asks, clearly confused at the gift.

“Micro explosives,” Starscream answers him. Megatron still looks confused. “From your spark chamber.”

Megatron looks back down at the little offering with new clarity, optics widening a little.

“How did you even manage to install these?” he asks.

Starscream shrugs. “Laced your post-frag energon with a sedative,” he answers easily. “You slipped into recharge and never noticed a thing.”

Megatron just keeps looking at the box, flipping it over and over again.

“It’s proof,” Starscream continues when he says nothing.

“Proof? That you weren’t lying about trying to steal my empire by _cheating_?” Megatron says. There’s a little growl caught in the back of his intake. Starscream huffs. Of course it’s anger that keeps him silent and clueless yet again.

“That I _wasn’t lying_ , you ungrateful brute,” Starscream corrects him. “Now you know how easily I could have ended you.”

“But you _didn’t_ ,” Megatron says.

Starscream throws his servos up in frustration. Does he really have to _spell it out_ for the dimwit?

“And why might that be?” Starscream snarks at him.

Megatron makes a face. “Because… because…” He’s quiet for exactly five seconds before Starscream groans at him.

Honestly, for someone who’s otherwise clever enough to gain Starscream’s respect, Megatron is truly _an idiot_. He can see how hard his processors spin trying to find the answer and for a second the Seeker actually thinks Megatron is messing with him just to get him to spill his internals at his pedes.

When the adorable little wrinkle between his lord’s optics deepen enough that not even dumb bucket of a helmet hides it anymore, Starscream sighs in defeat.

“Because _I love you too_ !” he finally says, his voice shaking as he speaks the words he’d been taught to never say out loud. “ _Obviously._ Really, Megatron, how thick-helmed can you be?”

Finally, _finally_ he can see the warlord get it. He stares at the box and then lifts his gaze to Starscream half a dozen times before it happens, but then a smile splits the brooding shadows that otherwise permanently covers his face. Starscream just rolls his optics at him again, even as he’s dragged into his lap and wrapped in a hug. Really, it would be adorable if the suddenly appearing, disgustingly affectionate side of his fearsome lord wasn’t so completely _unwanted_ in their current situation.

“Enough! Stop mechhandling me!” Starscream screeches at him, pushing at his face and arms in an attempt to escape the hug.

“You’ll survive it,” Megatron just tells him and kisses his cheek.

“Ugh, you’re impossible. Release me.” Starscream squirms and wiggles to no avail. He’s truly caught in Megatron’s embrace.

“There is no one here and you just told me you loved me,” Megatron points out. “Can you not stand a single moment of affection?”

“It’s not a question of whether I can stand it or not!” he argues hotly. “It’s unbecoming of leaders! We don’t have to risk everything to indulge our foolishness just because we’ve been idiotic enough to fall in love!”

He’s almost able to _feel_ the confusion that takes over Megatron again. Starscream uses it to get free and get back on his pedes.

He ruffles his wings and brushes off his spotless chassis before he turns his optics back to Megatron. Really, it’s almost criminal how gorgeous this dumb tincan is when he’s confused. Starscream wants to _ruin_ him.

He forces that side processing back down and firmly ignores how his core temperature ticks up just a bit in response. They _do not_ have time for a careless, spontaneous frag in the med bay.

“You seem awfully set on forgetting I tried to kill you just twelve hours ago,” he says instead, flicking his wings into a neutral position. Really, one thought of interfacing and they just immediately start to flirt? What is he, a newspark?

“You just implied you were incapable of doing so because you loved me,” Megatron points out, lifting the box of wires as proof. “Makes me believe it wasn’t really an attempt at my life.”

“And yet I still stabbed you because I chose the Cause over you,” Starscream says.

“That doesn’t make you less attractive to me,” Megatron admits with a disgusting, loving smile.

“Ugh, I have no idea how you’ve survived this long,” Starscream says, shaking his helm and rubbing his optics.

He steps closer and pokes a digit at the center of Megatron’s chassis. He’ll end up spending an eternity spelling out every little thing for this dumbaft he’s decided to fall in love with, won’t he?

“We have a war to end and a planet to restore,” he explains. “A good leader sacrifices his own comforts and desires for his people. As Winglord, _I_ can’t afford any weakness until my subjects are safe and free. _You_ made yourself into a weakness for me when you made me fall in love with you.”

Once again Megatron’s whole expression falls as he completely misses Starscream’s point.

“So, you want nothing to do with me,” he concludes. “You love me but don’t want to.”

“ _UGH_!! You’re so impossible!!” the Seeker exclaims.

Starscream decides to just give up on words. _Clearly,_ Megatron is _too stupid_ to understand them. Instead, he yanks his lord’s helm closer and kisses him desperately because slag it, there’s nothing he wants more than to drag this sorry pile of scrap into his berth and frag his processor into stasis. All these _feelings_ are bothersome and _distracting_ and Megatron being the sappy lump of metal he is, is making it much more difficult to resist than it has to be. He tries to sink all his wild, burning desires into that one kiss, licking into his lord’s mouth. He presses his whole frame against Megatron’s, invading his space and welcoming the servos that carefully grab his hips like Megatron is afraid he’s not allowed.

This is the mighty and fearless warlord who has conquered whole galaxies in his quest for justice and here he is, scared of being rejected by the Seeker currently laying claim to his spark?

Typical, Starscream is in love with an _idiot._

He finally releases Megatron’s lips when he hears the old mech’s cooling fans click up a notch, flashing him a hungry, flirtatious smile.

“End the war and restore our home, my lord,” Starscream purrs against his lips. He kisses him once more, softly this time, just barely a brush of lips. He loves how Megatron chases his lips when he draws back again. “ _Then_ we’ll talk.”

He pulls away and flicks his wings high, giving Megatron only a few extra moments to absorb the words and their promise before he turns his back on him.

Starscream walks out of the med bay without glancing back, helm held high even as his spark pounds painfully inside him. He doesn’t want to leave, doesn’t want to keep sacrificing himself like this, but it’s necessary. A Winglord does what’s best for his people. Starscream has always excelled in everything he set his mind to.

He will continue to make his creators proud.

He reaches his private quarters without interruption, any warrior he meets in the halls backing up and lowering their helm to him. Starscream just smirks and passes them without comment.

As soon as the door closes and locks behind him, his wings pressed against it, Starscream’s smirk drops into a soft, genuine smile. A couple of trembling digits touch his bottom lip as he replays the first kisses he’s had in millions of years. Heat rolls through him at the memory, heating his lines and makes his spark throb.

Yes, there had been countless setbacks and many near failures. Starscream giggles quietly to himself in his empty berthroom at the reckless stupidity that nearly cost him everything. _Him,_ falling in love! He really should have planned for that. But it’s no matter, he improvised and though it was rushed, his plan _worked._

He steps away from the door and waves away the questioning, curious pokes from his trinemates over their bond, probably due to the giddy elation seeping out of him. His mouth curls into a true, joyful grin, optics seeking out the hidden compartment in his desk where all the plans for Cybertron’s revival and Starscream’s new empire are hidden on secret data slugs. His servos curl into fists at his sides.

Finally, he did it. _Finally,_ victory is _his._

And so is Megatron. He managed to claim one of the strongest mechs in Cybertronian history as his mate by _accident_ . _Excellent_.

Starscream’s grin widens.

Now it’s time to move on to phase two.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I asked myself: what if Starscream was competent but still the clumsy, emotional wreck we all love to hate and hate to love? That he was so fiercely intelligent that he ends up sabotaging himself more often than not? What if he was of royal blood and his knowledge of manipulation and trickery came from an education meant for someone who was trained to take over a throne? And his desire to overthrow Megatron came from an inherited desire to protect his people and keep them safe? What if Starscream actually _cared_ about others? And what if Megatron wasn’t a raging, abusive idiot but stayed the idealistic lord who wanted to bring an end to tyranny and the Decepticons didn’t just randomly destroy planets and kill people because they could? What if it the war had meaning and there was plot? What might happen if these two characters accidentally fell in love because of one of Starscream’s plots to kill Megatron backfires on him?
> 
> This is my attempt at a fic with these characters, based on the above questions. I’ve never written them before and have only been in fandom for about a year, so they might be horribly OOC. Nevertheless, this is my first contribution to the TF fandom and my first true work with these characters.
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts on how I did if you're willing to share them (: If not then just thanks for reading!
> 
> Have a wonderful day (:


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